Washboard



Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

UNITED STATES} PATENT emce lttasn CHARLES w. KENNON, or TAMPA, FLORIDA.

wAsHBo Rn.

I Application filed October 29, 1923. Serial No. 671,498.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CH RLES W. KENNON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Tampa, in the county of Hillsborough and State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVashboards; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in washboards, and has for an object to provide an improved washboard in which improved results are secured in the washing of various kinds of cloth and clothing and in which the board is constructed in a strong andrigid manner capable of withstanding great wear, but at the same time being constructed fabric.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an improved Washboard of a corrugated character in which metal strips are secured along the crests of the corrugations to take up the wear and to provide a smooth to avoid injury to the surface against which the clothes or fabric are to be rubbed; to provide additionally a few, preferably two or three, rows of bristles for use in cleaning particularly soiled spots which resist the action of the corrugated surface, and to so employ the metal strips that the same constitute a reinforcement for the structure of the board and legs.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully de scribed hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of an improved washbcard constructed. according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 22 in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 also in Figure 1, and

Figure l is a perspective view of one of the metal strips.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 5 and 6 designate the side bars or styles havingthe projecting feet 7 and 8 in the usual manner and connected at the top by the soap board 9 and the top rail 10. In accordance with the present invention, the style barsare provided wi internal, mutual recesses 11 andlQ constituting, as is seen clearly in. Figure 3', a substantially channel construction in which the side edges ofthe base board 13 are fittedand secured as the use of nails or other fastening This baseboard 18, upon operative face is corrugated to provide ribs which may be V-shaped in order to enable their production 1 at low cost. The crests or projections 14 are formed transversely with pockets 15,

narrow and substantially deep, and approximately one-half inch wide In these pockets 15 are placed the metal strips the legs 16 and17 which are spaced apart and substantially parallel and theiounded connecting portion 18 one side, the opposite sidebeing left open. These U-shaped metal strips are substantially as wide asthe base board 13 and they are received at the side edges of the base board into the recesses 11 and 12 of the side styles 5 and (i, being held by the side walls of the recesses from escape from the pockets so that no particular positive fastening means is needed for holding the strips in the pockets. The metal of which the strips are made is resiliout, and the legs 16 and 17 are normally sprung slightly apart, which admits of the enforced contraction of legs when pushing the same into the pockets. The subsequent expansion of these legs will create considerable friction throughout the relatively large contacting surface between the legs and the side walls of the pockets 15 and this great amount of friction will also resist any tendency of the strips to escape or creep lengthwise in the pockets or to shift to any extent. The legs are, however, seated upon the bases of the pockets, and when so seated, the rounded outer portons 18 are intended to be substantially flush with the outer edges of the pockets so that a smooth, substantially continuous joint is formed without offering any crevices for catching in the fabric. The rounded portion 18 will present a smooth surface, and yet a durable surface, and the Wear will be taken off the wood of which the base board 13 is made. The metal will also not be affected by the water and by the chemical in the soap, and the washboard Will in this Way be more durable and will remain for a longer period of time in working condition. The metal strips are not apt to pull out, and the ends, being con cealed Within the recesses 11 and 12 of the style bars offer no edges for cutting or catching in the clothes.

Two rows of fibre or bristles 19 and 20 are provided upon the base board, and these rows of bristles are preferably set in the troughs between the ribs and are separated by a distance of two troughs. These bristles are separated rather Widely in a lateral direction, and they project only slightly above the adjoining crests at opposite sides so that they do not have any materially great effect when the clothes are being rubbed up and down the board, and the corrugated nature of the board offers protection or the bristles so that the bristles are not mashed down and the bristles in general are preserved in a stiff state. \Vhen a particularly soiled spot is encountered, the clothing may be rubbed laterally upon the bristles and forced to some extent down into the trough occupied by the row, so that the full eflect oi the bristles may be had upon the soiled area. By placing the bristles in the central part of the board, the relatively wide surfaces are left above and below the same in Which the clothes can be rubbed in the usual manner.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention Without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claim ll hat is claimed is:

A Washboard comprising a pair oi side bars having channels in their intermediate portions, a base board having' its side edges fitted into the channels in the bars and provided upon its outer face with substantially V-shapcd ribs, each of said ribs being provided at its crest with a slot extending longitudinally thereof, and an inverted U-shapcd metal strip for each slot, each 01? said strips being of resilient metal with their legs sprung to inherently urge the same apart toward a diverging position, each of said slot-s having their opposite walls s 'iaccd apart a distance less than the distance to which the legs of said strip are originally sprung apart, the intermediate rounded portion of each stop projecting from its slot substantially flush with the wall of the respective rib.

CHARLES W. KENNON. 

